I don't really like the word blog, but it seems pointless to fight it, Zis is a blog.
If you want to know more about an Algerian girl who lives in London and struggles with thoughts that are beyond the remits of her understanding, stories of society and social climbers of love and deception and of a status of seemingly eternal singlehood, then you are in the right place...

Friday, 22 March 2013

Tit for T(w)at

Feeling rather perplexed as to Femen’s nudist activism. Notwithstanding my respect to Femen and
their activism and struggle, notwithstanding my very liberal stands on
sexuality and female sexuality or choice of, I keep trying to convince
myself that using female nudity to attract attention over women’s rights
and equality issues is necessary then I argue the opposite and refuse
to see the necessity female nudity to claim equal rights or shed lights
on women’s issue.
I even argued that if a man can walk around
topless, why can’t a woman, then another voice in my head waves me off;
yes but he doesn’t have hanging glands that arouse and are the subject
of so many mythical and religious tales and dramas.

Would it be acceptable if men used nudity to claim freedom and democracy?
The
latest movement from Ourgla (Algeria) here saw a massive gathering of young
unemployed men demanding jobs and more attention, none of whom was
showing an ounce of flesh
of course it wouldn’t have served any purpose because nobody is
chastising the male body AND I think it was quite chilly that day.

Arguably
the female body is generally considered more attractive, aesthetic and
more interesting than men’s and I would certainly not tune in to see any
nude-men-walk (or women’s), and so it (female nudity) would
understandably gather more attention upon revealing it, but to me
resorting to provocative nudity in activism brings the intended
attention but not without arousing the fury of the extremists, religious
or not, the anti-feminists or whatever group was targeted directly or
indirectly.

I for one, for all my sins and big mouth,
cannot put my breasts on show for any reason or cause, perhaps I lack
the bravery that Amina and Meriem have or perhaps I think it easier and
more adequate to face inequality and prejudices with more cerebral or
verbal ways and discourses that do not resort to nudity.

However,
not agreeing with female nudist activism does not in any way mean not
supporting Femen’s struggle or for that matter showing my outrage at the
Islamists who produced a Fatwa on Amina’s head to be stoned to death.

Amina’s
posed topless on the Femen Tunisia Facebook group bearing in black
marker across her chest and belly the following words in Arabic “My body
is mine, not for your honour”, today Amina is reported missing and it
makes me feel indignant and want to scream.

CASE IN
POINT: did she not just stipulate that her body was hers and nothing to
do with the honour of the country or indeed any other Tunisian person.
Yet her action was seen as soiling the Tunisian honour and that of
Muslims. Do these people not read? I am sure the message was written
quite clearly over her chest …look for yourselves!

Patriarchal
society is confusing and hypocritical, holding the “uncovered women ask
for it” discourse, treating women like a thing of temptation to be
exploited and enjoyed on one hand and strive to hide, cover, destroy and
oppress it on the other, driving Muslim women to use Burkas and Hidjab as
tools of self-defence and blaming their God-given bodies and hair for
the harassment endured.
Why should we have to endure men’s overzealous testosterone and
misogyny, why should we wear a burka or a headscarf or even feel the
need to go bare breasted when they (men) can just tuck their tongues
back in their mouths and busy themselves with more important business
like the economy or dominos.

37 comments:

you have gone too far, first with your title.. and listen am advising you only, i wish you understand, firstly its nobodies body its gods body, i am sure with your brainwashed mentality u dnt beleive me, but when you die you leave your body in this planet, is like you are renting your body for a purpose, secondly this poor woman i dnt know why she done it, i think it was too much for her, but she lost HER SHARAF, nobody elses sharf or maybe her family's SHARAF or people who invested in her and loved her SHARAF.... bref, i know what you trying to do with your blogs, but instead of protecting the rightous rights of women, you are defending evil acts and disgracefull thing, i really dont undertand what is driving you, maybe hate for ex partners or i dnt know you suffered some kind of abuse...but let me tell you that no man is equal to another, some men are cheap with no ethic and others live only with principles. i hope you be good rabi iyhanik, we all have desires all of us, but we should control them for the wellbeing of our society the planet earth society, we cannot live like barbarians naked and shaging each others and see children grow with no known parents, confuuuused. we should be a society of advanced religion nomatter which one as all have the same principles trust me. i hope god foregive you for your SINS, i do, but it would be wise of me to avoid you because of what you do, but listen, god is great and he gave me a second chance when i fooled myself living without moral or ethics, so you could benefit from that, all you have to do is know your real self and be good toyourself and others around you. dont do things that you dont want people to do to you, and understand if someone is pissed off because you got naked in front of everyone, its because that person truely love you and care for you.

If you think the blogger goes too far by expressing her thoughts on issues that you consider taboo, why do you keep reading them? if you feel that what is said here is immoral, why do you read it and comment on it? there are many other blogs that talk about politics, culture, and religion; yet you choose to come here and then try and give advice to the blogger on how to behave...there is a word for this kind of behavior, it is called hypocrisy.

NO BECAUSE AM ALGERIAN, ITS THE ONLY BLOG I READ AND IT IS THE LAST TIME I READ A BLOG FROM THIS PERSON... WHAT YOU DO IS CALLED DIRT... AND AS USUAL AM GIVING YOU FUEL FOR YOUR DISCUSSIONS.. EMPTY FUCKS

am trying to understand you only and try to see the good in YOU, not amina nor meriem, i read your blogs to understand you, but you go too far by PROMOTING such things, do you think beard men and hijab girls dont have sex??? do you thing everyone supports the killing of women or men or animals.... NO, i dont like a girl that expose her body and shagg around, and i dont like people who endanger others kill them or assault them because they done so. so dont put every1 one in one bag....and the reason why am pissed off is because i thought you worth more then that,, you protecting a shamefull act by hating another shameful act. are you crazy, get naked a shag everyone of your friends and expect respect, you will see if you dont respect yurself noone will nd thats the case for men and women trust me about that, am talking out of my own experiences and am not a bardman.. the things i lived you will never have the chance to see them.

You must be a sad little ugly bastard. I pity you for never having experienced love by women, not even your mother. Which might explain why you are a hateful little bastard. I hope you die sad and unfulfilled, little piece of shit.

sad yes, ugly no, bastard i was and i am sorry if you are one of my exes, if you are not then you should visit a doctor now, pity? hihihi comooon, pity dont make people swear at you, love experienced but am not that hurt like you wishing death to people, i regret one of my exes only and only one, that i was unfaithfull with but wellah she pushed me... my mum no coment i dnt know how is it in your brain that a mother dnt give love, maybe you will be the case, death its to everyone unfullfilled...? you are mad evil, and the way you talk is rubish and you stink you have bad brath lol i would defenetly die sad if i spend my life with you. you are a piece of shit. death is clean i wish you live just the way you live now forever ;)

WAaaaaW!Hypersensitive about ... I think a book author must never give his opinion on the subject he treats, but when writing a blog is just to give an opinion, say what you think! And even how to express and interpret things!Regarding this issue (for the big mouths anonymous) I will not judge your thought and your opinion because it would not be ethical for me as I insinuated somewhere that does nothing to tell anyone which while veiling the face'' anonymous'' is an act of the hypocrites they either (it's still my opinion).To return to our two misses zwayez, everyone is free to do what he wants, I'm not judged for such-and-so, I am only responsible for my actions and I represent only my own entity; these misses zwayez wanted to do with their bodies what they have done ben Rebbi Y SAHEL 3LIHOUM ... If you really think that two pairs of breasts have soiled the image of Tunisia look a bit around you ... porn actresses Maghrebian the Maghrebian prostitutes, terrorists Maghrebian ... do not you think that these are the people who dirty the image of your respective countries? Outright change the subject! Do not you think that just getting out in front of you and even hang around garbage (Zbel) is more damaging to the image of your country two chick one can wanton?Well I think I already speak a little too basic with my English ... I congratulate the author for not having done too much, and especially to have said loud and everything everyone thinks low.good luck

hey chicka, some megalomaniac psychos are trolling your blog !! good luck with em' Now let's go back to the subject : I always thought that extreme fenimism is an intellectual fraud ! why ? because it strips the battle for women's rights (wich is good in itself) of its complexity (the difference of treatments and women's rights inside different classes, the fact that women are often the first perpetuator and defender of some inequalities, the positive side of the patriarchal order throughout history, etc.) and rather than discussing the topic, goes for the most obvious and spectacular yet dangerous bias : the gender war !! beside that, let me tell you that the Femen are supported behind the curtains by some powerful shadow structure promoting the New World Order (Soros and Co) and that some of these hysteric militants are.. whores ! (see the links below)http://www.dtom.fr/archives/les-feministes-femen-juste-le-dernier-loisir-de-milliardaires-bobos-qui-payent-tres-bien-par-tete-de-blonde/http://24heuresactu.com/2012/11/27/la-porte-parole-francaise-des-femen-est-une-prostituee-videos/

From the pic this girl "could" be mentally unstable. she looks like she cut herself. If she is mentally sane, then she is amazingly brave. I am not sure if her stunt is a distraction to the actual issue she is trying to bring forth, but she certainly made headlines around the world. regardless of my opinion about her stunt, this is hypocrisy. no one has the right to beat or stone her. her body belongs to her not to the Muslim world or to the Tunisian Gov. or to the Muslim preachers. To resolve (or help minimize) women oppression around the world, women with the help of good men, need to raise better men and teach them how to respect women. DZC, posting this on your blog can also be seen as stunt from your part, I respect your courage. To the guy/girl who disagrees with this post, open up a little, we are just discussing an issue here, no one is dishonoring you, calm down.

I discovered the story of this girl on your post Dzchick. I listened to an interview of her by a tunisian TV channel. She is not mentally unstable at all. She is aware of her message, her actions and their consequences. She said that Internet and night clubs are full of nude tunisian girls dancing and exposing their body to men's concupiscence wihout any problem. She argued that the message on her body was the problem and not her nudity.Although I totally subscribe to her message, I think this mode of expression is totally counter-productive. I am sure these photos will be used by the extremists as an argument against secularists that, according to them, are driving muslims to perversity. This will be, sadly, the most proeminent way this action will be exploited to.

The first comment is in some sense going deeper into the question. It considers the problem in religious terms and if we dig a little further the problem, at least in muslim societies, is a problem of freedom of belief. The commentator assumes, and unfortnately he is not the only one, that everyone is (must be) in his religious postion.

Tarik OY Thank you for your input. I agree, a blog is about the bloggers’ own analysis and views, if someone doesn’t agree, that’s fair enough.

I think judgment is key here, yes, the fact that Amina or Meriem showed flesh on the internet or on the beach doesn’t get a shadow of a reaction from me, but the reaction to their action is incredible and of course it all stems quite basically from judgement first then other factors…

If anyone is indignant with the image of the Muslim or Arab world, they should start looking within themselves and try to see what they have themselves done in the last 12 months to change that image? Positively or negatively.

Homo Erectus Tell me about it, it’s like the zoo in here.

I have to agree on the fact that the worst anti-feminists are usually women themselves, mothers and sisters specifically in the Arab world.

I have always been dubious about Femen’s constitution, financing and strategy, they who don’t recognise Arab and Muslim women feminism if they wear the headscarf.

Surely it is about encouraging and affirming women’s choices and liberties, whether it is go to topless or to wear a headscarf (by own choice).

As for the ex prostitutes status, I understand that Femen stemmed out of the suffering of Ukrainian women at the hands of the sex trade and women trafficking and so it could be the case yes, that some of the Femen members are ex prostitutes, whether they are still working in the sex trade is another matter.

El Badj

It might be again the case that Amina is young, a rebel and perhaps naïve. I don’t have an issue with her showing flesh per se, but the ramifications of her actions are not going to bring about any positive change, not in the long foreseeable future that I comprehend myself.

I see your point on my blog being a kind of stunt. But for me this is starting a debate nothing more.

Chatnoir I have to agree with you. Her actions have perhaps tipped the balance towards the Islamists and fundamentalists who are going to feed on this to further claim their power on Tunisia, call to her death and to the fall of the more secularists, whilst the World Media will sensationalise this and showcase once more the ignorance and intolerance of the Muslims for one pair of glands with a badly scribbled message on them.

As for the first comment, perhaps he would have preferred me to not cover this story so it could be ignored and forgotten about. I don’t play ostrich.

Dz Chick, I am really pleased you covered the topic in question. This picture is aesthetically appealing, it's a great art piece. The controversial nature of the picture served its purpose, which I believe was the sole purpose, to highlight the gender inequality in the Arab/Muslim world and get the media covering it. Let's be honest here we are all aware that a woman's body is her family's business in our culture. A woman will bring dishonour to her family if she married impure i.e. loss of virginty took place out of wedlock. As stated in Arabic, her body is hers and not for anyone's honour. The cigarette and red lipstick add to the topless controversy, both elements are negatively perceived in our culture. The cigarette is acceptable for men but a loose woman's item of accessories and so is the red lipstick. I support those two women's action and found it highly commendable considering the risks involved in posing topless in a Muslim country led by radicals who by the way would love nothing more than have all women walking in hijabs. Moreover I would like to point out that there is nothing sexual in the picture and any man getting aroused over it is probably aged between 10 and 18, maybe up to 25 years old if they live in the sticks back home.Very controversial topic to tackle so kudos chica!

Well I was all about the true femen stuff and didn't saw the pics of the two girls till few minutes ago.. Really I don't understand how two average tits with some fifty years old slogan badly written on them can shock people at that point.. I mean I entirely disagree as I explained above about the whole modus operandi of extreme feminism, and I'm somehow an old school guy about some stuff but I just don't get how people (except for homo-wahhabis as they are pure oedipian mess) can go so mad about a nipple pic on facebook... I mean every good muslim has access to porn now.. and there's several videos of hijabi girls doin some kinky stuff and nobody gives a shit about.. on the other hand it's not like if super muslim guys were known for their high rationality..

Miss Polemique the picture might be aesthetically pleasing but the message it conveys is what exactly?

Ask yourself this: do women really have to bare flesh in order to achieve gender equality and claim rights and Independance?

I don't agree with you the picture is very sensual and very much sexual, it was designed that way through adding the cigarette, the red lipstick and even that white bandeau on her wrist! If she or indeed Femen wanted to achieve a non sexual image they could have picked an overnight not so attractive older lady and made the same point!

Thank you, yes you see I could have made the exact same point and all I needed was to type behind my screen, didn't even reveal my identity let alone my breasts!

Homo Erectus yes the more I read on it the more I tend to even want to change my post to "I do not agree with some of their ideologies and views on what constitutes a feminist and how to go about claiming womens rights" I don't see them staging a topless manifestation against the Media and marketing who use female nudity on about 80% (probably) in everything they sell including bread (probably)! Is using women in that way acceptable? Or is it because it was by the women's choice? Surely then perhaps some of the Muslim women out there do actually wear the headscarf or even Niqab by personal choice.

And yes you're quite right haha Homo-Wahabis or the ultra-Muslim aren't known for being very rational beings.

Dz Chick, it was a great PR stunt which aimed to bring attention to their organisation and their branch in Tunisia as well as the perception of Arab men that Arab women's bodies can bring shame and dishonour to their family/nation/religion. The latter point was certainly confirmed by the reaction the picture solicited i.e. fatwa. I strongly doubt they (Femen & the girls) aimed to achieve gender equality and advancement of women's rights as decades of feminism and countless legislations still have not achieved that purpose.

As for using an overweight, elderly lady, let's keep it real, no newspapers would have ever published it. It boils down to aesthetics and an overweight woman is less likely to remove her clothes anyways.

A picture can speak volume and can convey a message much quicker and more efficiently than thousands of words.

hey dz-chick, nice point of view and nice blog,i agree on some points you mentioned and then disagree on others, if a man was to take the streets naked to protest his rights(and i think men do feel its less important to do that, they know how to get their rights straight off), chances are the whole world will think he's perverted, i dunno but, women used to fight wars whilst being modestly covered up and not needing to show their bodies to gain importance in society, seriously its going a bit nutso these days with those stupid freedom claims ''in my opinion'',also just need to mention, i hate the idea of international women's days etc. etc.(do we hear of international men's day?), i feel like its lots of talking, but no action to back it up, we need to stop floating around and start making solid positions for ourselves....keep posting some more :)))

ho niiiice. chick and peolemik don't agreee. polemik i find it hard to take you serioslé, maybe show a couple of pictureas (= a few thousand words) and we might start to think you don't actualley onlé spew shite.

El Badji it's getting out of hand this tit-war!I find it excruciating and only mildly HILLARIOUS that women should feel the need to care their breats in anti-Islam slogans to claim freedom for someone or gender equality! Rediculi!

Count yourself lucky I have not made any personal attacks on you T'es Yucky, believe me this is me holding back!! Initially it was out of respect for Dz Chick but we are passed that now, I won't lower myself to your standards! Don't respond I am not having a conversation with you!

Running down the street naked to claim women rights is as pathetic as yelling , screaming or hitting people when arguing about some subject ! it's the weak pathetic unworthy way to seek attention ! Beside, as a citizen, we must respect the culture of the country we're living in , I don't eat beef when with Indians, and I certainly don't walk topless in Tunisia ! Yasmine